Mateo Covic, the solo developer behind the 'rage game' title Paddle Paddle Paddle, has sparked debate after revealing the game has a refund rate of around 21 per cent despite holding a "Very Positive" user rating on the platform.

Posting on X, Covic wrote: "This should not be possible Steam. Would be cool if you could finally do something about your refund policy... Got dozens of reviews like that and 21 percent refund rate even though the reviews are 90 percent very positive... That's over 55,000 refunds btw."

Steam's refund policy allows players to request a refund for any title purchased within 14 days, provided they have played for less than two hours, with no questions asked.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Covic stressed he supports refunds in principle but believes the system is open to abuse.

He said: "I'm 100 percent pro refund but the current 'no questions asked if you request a refund within two weeks and with less than two hours of playtime' policy just makes it super easy for players to abuse this rule.

Covic explained that Paddle Paddle Paddle was designed to take around four hours to complete, including a 40-minute demo level.

However, skilled players and speedrunners have managed to finish the game in under two hours, making them eligible for refunds despite completing the experience.

He later clarified to PC Gamer that his frustration was not with the overall refund rate itself, which he described as fairly typical for "rage games", but with players openly admitting they had finished and enjoyed the game before requesting their money back.

He explained: "My tweet phrasing was a complete mistake. I have absolutely no problem with refunds at all... I just wanted to say that I think it's wrong to refund a game after having fun with it and completing it."

Steam introduced its refund policy in 2015, with Valve describing it as a way to give players greater confidence when buying games, though the system has periodically drawn criticism from developers of shorter titles.